Portret van een vrouw, aangeduid als Hermina Tilma, en een portret van een man, aangeduid als opa Bas 1870 - 1888

This is a photographic portrait of a woman and a man by Carl August Ludwig Reinhardt. The image, a small rectangle in a bound album, appears to be a silver gelatin print, a process that dominated photography from the late 19th century. While seemingly simple, the silver gelatin process involved considerable chemistry and skill. Light-sensitive silver halide crystals are suspended in gelatin, coated on a substrate, exposed to light, and then developed. The tonal range and clarity we see here depend on the careful manipulation of these materials. The studio stamp below the image implies a commercial transaction: portraiture democratized. The sepia tone, the clothing and hairstyles, all speak to the era in which it was made. Photography like this reflected industrialization, but also the human desire to record and remember. It is a small rectangle, but a window onto the world.